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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS • • WASHINGTON. D.C.

INDIANS AT f OEK
CONTENTS OF TEE ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 1938

Volume VI Number 1

Page

Editorial John Collier 1

Cover Design 3

How Indians Are Housed 5

An Indian Thinks "Sacred Bundle" Brougnt

Too Much Rain 11

From The Atlantic Seaboard To Canada,

Texas And Oklahoma Minnie A. Garrett 12

Ditch Cleaning At Jemez Pueblo Ten Broeck Williamson 15

A Walrus Hunt Sullivan Coan 18

The White Clay Dam at Pine Ridge Russell E. Getty 20

The American Indian Sign Language John P . Harrington 24

Oneida Indians Push Garden Program 32

Recent Changes Of Assignment 32

Cecil Dick, Young Cherokee Painter Maud Parker 33

The Flambeau Fish Hatchery 34

Three Thousand Feet Down Erik W. Allstrom 37

From CCC-ID Reports 39

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VOLUME ¥1 • 5EPTEM5ER 1938 - NUMBER 1

A decision local in importance, yet with wide bearings on
Indian life, was rendered by the Federal District Court of Southern
California on July 23, 1938.

Certain Indians of the Agua Caliente Band had sued to force
land allotment. Previously by a number of years, the Interior De-
partment had started to allot the Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) lands.
The tribe had protested, Indian welfare groups had supported the
tribe, and the allotments were never completed. The suit at Palm
Springs rested upon a double theory that allotment was mandatory up-
on and not discretionary with the Secretary of the Interior and that
a vested right had accrued to the prospective allottees through the
commencement of allotment, even though allotment had not been finished.
The Court said:

"The superior title of the Government in tribal lands
and in allotted lands where no patents have been issued implies,
of course, wise management. It does not confer on the Gov-
ernment the right to despoil a tribe or an allottee of ac-

crued rights. As Mr. Justice Cardozo said so eloquent-
ly, in Shoshone Tribes v. United States, supra, at page
498:

'Spoliation is not management.'

But the paternalistic position of the Government also
imposes an obligation to protect the tribe or individual
Indians against spoliation by others than the Government,
- even spoliation by fellow tribesmen. These general con-
siderations should aid in determining what, if any, rights
the tribesmen acquired through these selections for allot-
ment. On their face, the certificates contained the leg-
end, ' Not valid unless approved by the Secretary of the
Interior .' Such approval was never given. That it was
necessary is evident from the language of the Act of 1891."

Particularly significant were the Court's words: "The
Government's obligation is to protect the tribe or individual In-
dians against spoliation by others than the Government - even spolia-
tion by fellow tribesmen." There are many cases where, even in unal-
lotted reservations, a tendency toward farm land monopoly, range
monopoly, absentee landlordism, and tenancy, can be seen at work.
The Government's trusteeship and guardianship reach to these matters
of public welfare and social healthfulness, not only as between In-
dians and whites but as between Indians.

A significant coincidence with the deoision of the Calif-
ornia Federal Court, is the meeting of Indian Service staff members
and superintendents at Glacier Park, Montana, starting August 14,
for the concentrated study of problems that have arisen out of allot-
ments already made. All students of Indian history know of the
tremendous losses of land through allotment. All allotted Indians,

and service workers at their reservations, know the other fact:
that with each year, the allotted lands not yet alienated "become
more costly to administer and, on the whole, less productive of
income and harder to make use of. A recent case given in "Indians
At Work" is one wherein the subdivision of equities has gone so far
that actually until the end of time there will never accumulate,
for some of the heirs, as much as one dollar total. Millions of
dollars a year are consumed in the unproductive administration of
allotted lands. And practically speaking, more lands are "being
lost through heirship subdivision than possibly can be replaced
by Government purchases .

Is there any solution, as a practical matter, for this
problem - any ending of the "allotment nightmare?" ,

The Glacier Park Conference will be the most earnest ef-
fort yet made to find the answer.

JtTZ~

Commissioner of Indian Affairs

COVER PAGE

The photograph which appears on the cover of this issue of
"Indians At Work" shows some Paiute Indian women gathering potatoes
at Walker River (Carson Agency) Nevada.

INDIANS STILL KNOTT HOW TO USE LOCAL MATERIALS FOR HOUSES

House In a New Mexico Pueblo, With
Its Owner's Harvest of Corn and Chile.

Florida Seminole Shelters

Stone, Logs and Dirt:
A Navajo Hogan, Arizona.

Ocatillo and Adobe House,
Sells (Papago) Arizona

Bark Tepee, Consolidated
Chippewa, Minnesota.

Zipper Shirt - Bark House:
Bed Lake, Minnesota.

HOW INDIANS ARE HOUSED

The photographs on the opposite page and on the pa^es
following show something of Indian housing conditions. A word
should be said as to this collection: Indians and employees on
some reservations may feel that a photograph of a particularly had
example, which may not be typical of the reservation as a whole,
reflects upon the condition and upon the ambition of their group.
No such implication is intended. The number of pictures used had
to be limited, and a real cross-section of every area was not pos-
sible. The purpose of presenting these pictures is to show what
is true: that there is a great deal of poor housing on Indian
reservations and a small amount of medium-good housing; and that
in a few areas the Indian Service has been able, through alloca-
tions of emergency funds, through educational work by extension
workers and teachers, through reimbursable loans, and through
loans made to tribes organized under the Indian Reorganization Act,
to promote better housing in some areas. The need is still very
great.

The collection also shows the ingenuity of Indians of
various localities and climates in building houses with practically
no cash outlay from whatever materials have been found at hand:
bark, grass, brush, adobe, sod, logs and in some cases, bits of
tar paper, sheet metal, canvas and packing crates-

The greatest advance in Indian housing conditions during
recent years has been made possible by allotments to the Indian
Service from emergency relief appropriations, usually referred to
as "Rehabilitation" funds. This money has been used for direct re-
lief, for various work projects, such as sewing centers, community
garden projects and for community buildings and self-help centers.
Somewhat over a third, however, has been used for the construction
and repair of houses and out -bull dings . This modest building pro-
gram has proved to be a tremendous leaven in reservation conditions.
Some of the most needy families have been rehoused; repairs have
been made on other houses, with family members contributing labor;
and in addition, other families, observing the repairing program
and the building of new houses, have been fired with enthusiasm,
and have somehow secured materials and improved their own houses.

Some of the photographs were taken from a survey of hous-
ing conditions made by the Extension Division in 1933; others were
contributed by staff members, and some are by Andrew T. Kelley, De-
partment of the Interior photographer.

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CONTRASTS IN INDIAN HOUSING

light People Spent the Winter in

This Tent at Pine Eidge, South Dakota.

Home on an Indian Rancheria,
Sacramento Agency, California.
This Family Has Been Rehoused.

An Apache Wickiup, Arizona

Well Kept Cottage at the Wind
River Agency, Wyoming.

Home of a Prosperous Oklahoma Osage.

Cabin in the Cherokee Hill
Country, Oklahoma

MORE INDIAN HOMES

Above - a Ute Tepee, Con-
solidated Ute Agency, Utah.

Below: House at Lac
Court d'Oreillee, Great Lakes
Agency, Wisconsin.

Top Left - Caoin at Crow
Creek Agency, South Dakota.

Left Center - Home on the
Fort Peck Reservation, Montana.

WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT HOUSING: SOME EXAMPLES

Students at the Oglala

Community High School,

Pine Ridge, South Dakota,

Do Something About

Housing: Learning Carpentry

By House Repair.

Above: The House That Sheep Built. This is
the Home of Joseph Ironpipe, Blackfeet Pull-
Blood, Which he Built Himself With Money From
the Sale of Wool and Lambs. Joe Did All the
Work From Going Up in the Mountains For the
Logs to Varnishing the Floor.

The Mescalero Apache Tribe of jurizona

Borrowed $144,000 From the Indian

Reorganization Act's Revolving Loan

Fund With Which to Rehouse Its Members.

One Apache's Old and New Home Is

Shown Above.

This is the New Home of Dressed In
Yellow, of Turtle Mountain, North
Dakota, Whose Old Home Was Shown

On p 7 • The House Was Built From
Old Seasoned Logs.

AN INDIAN THINKS "SACRED BUNDLE" BROUGHT TOO MUCH RAIN

(Note: The following letter, which tells its own story,
was sent to "Indians At Work" by Scott H. Peters, a full-blood
Chippewa, employed as an Assistant Guidance and Placement Officer
in Wisconsin. )

I am about convinced that the "Indian Sacred Bundle n has
much to do with the control of the weather.

Early this spring I read in an issue of "Indians At Work"
that a delegation of Indians had been sent to a Museum in New Tork
to recover their "Sacred Bundle" and they returned with it to their
native home in North Dakota. Since having it again in their pos-
session, there has been such an abundance of rain that much destruc-
tion has been done. Most of this is because there are not enough
trees and shrubbery in our country at the present time to absorb the
excess moisture as in the early days.

In my travels I have seen field after field of corn, po-
tatoes and other farm products standing under from ten to twenty
inches of water, great fields of wheat and oats broken down by the
force of the winds and rain. Many road and railroad bridges have
been washed away bringing a large death toll. Lightning too has
played its part for just today I read in the newspaper of a storm,
during which two men were killed by lightning while working in
their field. Floods have left death and disaster in their paths,
and are still raging in the central part of Wisconsin. As late as
July 14, while traveling on a concrete road, I came upon a large
body of water where a river had overflowed, covering the road and
only with careful but hazardous driving was I able to reach the
other side.

I would like to suggest that the Indians be induced to re-
turn this "Sacred Bundle" to the Museum in New Tork where it has
been kept since it was captured many years ago and let the white
man control the weather.

FROM THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD TO CANADA, TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
The Story Of The Delawares

By Minnie A. Garrett, Delaware Indian

The name "Delaware", by which our tribe is now known, was
given by the English, due to the fact that the tribe in early Colo-
nial days occupied the entire basin of the Delaware River in Eastern
Pennsylvania and Southeastern New York, together with most of New
Jersey and Delaware. They called thenfeelves "Lenape" or "Leni Le-
nape", which translated means "native men or genuine men." By vir-
tue of their admitted priority of political rank, because of their
occupation of the central home territory from which most of the
cognate tribes had diverged, they were accorded by all Algonquian
tribes the respectful title of "grandfather."

When they made their first treaty with William Penn in
1682 they were a powerful nation. Their council fires burned where
Germantown, a suburb of Philadelphia, now stands.

William Penn had agreed to meet the Delawares personally
to confirm the treaty of peace and the purchase of the land which
his commissioners had bargained for. The transaction was to be
publicly ratified. Penn came, accompanied by his friends, to the
place where Philadelphia now stands. When he arrived he found the
chiefs and their people all assembled. They were seen as far as
the eye could reach up the river and down the river and in the for-
est beyond. The Quakers were but a mere handful in comparison.
They were unarmed.

Penn carried the roll of parchment. The head chief put
upon his head a kind of chaplet in which appeared a small horn, the
the emblem of kingly power. Upon putting on this horn the Indians
laid down their bows and arrows, for the place and the occasion had
become sacred. The Indians seated themselves upon the ground to
form a half-moon in groups. The chief then announced to William
Penn by means of an interpreter that they were ready to listen. The
treaty was ratified with due solemnity and is known today as the
treaty that was never sworn to and never broken.

Soon afterward began their gradual journey westward. In
1742 they removed to the basin of the Susquehanna. In 1751 they
were removed yet further from the Alleghanies, always referred to

as their "home over there", and for which they never ceased to long,
to Ohio.

In 1768 they were again removed and established three
towns on the Muskingum River . These groups were called Christian
Indians because of the results of the influence of the missionaries
among them, several of whom had migrated with the Delawares. Their
life there ended in a shameful massacre, which threw the Christian
Indians into despair. From this period the tribe began to break up.
One group removed to Canada where their descendants yet remain.

On September 17, 1778 the United States entered into an
alliance with the Delaware Nation of Indians for offensive and de-
fensive purposes, thus making the Delaware Nation the first allies
of the United States Government. In the treaty of 1778 all Dela-
wares* rights were to be respected to the fullest and a state was
formed inviting all friendly tribes to join with the Delawares at
the head, entitling them to send a representative to Congress.

By every act the Delawares have remained steadfast in
their support of the United States Government and have furnished
soldiers in all wars. During the Revoluntionary Tar the Delawares
furnished the Colonial Government two colonels, White Eyes and Win-
Ge-Nord, and about 900 soldiers under Chiefs Killbuck, Kelelamand,
Pushees and Wicacolind. Five Delawares served among the personal
bodyguards of General Washington. As evidence of the appreciation
which General Washington and Congress had of the distinguished
services of the Delawares, Congress educated three Delaware youths,
relatives of the chiefs who had served the military forces during
the Revolutionary War, at Princeton College.

It was the Delawares who guided General Fremont across
the Rockies. Over one hundred fought with Captain Black Beaver in
Old Mexico and it was a Delaware who pulled down the flag at Mon-
terey. In the Civil War, from a population of 201 males between
the ages of 18 and 45, the Delawares sent 170 to the Union Army.

One Delaware group, grown restless with the constant mi-
grating, had joined a band which was later known as Absentee Shaw-
nees • After receiving permission from the Spanish Government,
they came down into' what is now Arkansas and Missouri and on into
Texas. Here, under Black Beaver, they played an important part in
the establishment of the state. They acted as guides, scouts and
interpreters between the Government and other tribes. In return
they were guaranteed title to land by Sam Houston, then President
of the Republic of Texas. They began living with the Caddo tribes
before the Civil War, then went to Kansas with some Shawnee s dur-
ing the war, and returned at the close of the war.

There are about 100 descendants of this group living
around Anadarko, Oklahoma, today- They are allotted as Wichita
Indians but they have always lived among the Caddos and have in-
termarried with them and most of them speak the Caddo language-
Recently these Delaware s organized and elected a chief, assistant
chief and other officers-

Meanwhile , the northern group of Delawares had been in-
formed by the Government that they must move from their Ohio home.
It was a sad, disheartened procession that found its way across
the plains to Kansas. They were hurt too deeply to cry: they had
left a part of themselves there-

The procession reached Eldorado, Kansas, in 1829, where
they again established homes and again built their meeting house
as they had done so many times before- By 1835 most of the tribe
was settled upon the reservation- In 1867 they were again removed.
This time they went into the Indian territory where they purchased
land from the Cherokee Nation and in addition, matched dollar for
dollar the money in the Cherokee treasury. In return they received
equal rights with the Cherokees as Cherokee citizens- They no
longer had a chief with official power, but lived under the Chero-
kee law- They settled in the northeastern part of Oklahoma, along
the Kansas line. One of their first acts was to build their meet-
ing house again, where for many years they practiced their tribal
religious ceremonies.

On the full moon of each October they held a religious
ceremony in this meeting house which lasted twelve days. Here they
gathered with other invited tribes. At these meetings any brave or
chief could tell of his experiences in hunting or warfare, never
claiming any of the honors for himself if he had been successful in
any event, but always thanking the Great Spirit or Manitou for his
success- The older members fully believe misfortunes have been
sent upon them because they deserted the form of worship which their
ancestors taught them.

The old meeting house has fallen down. The last of the
logs were put in the University of Tulsa to be preserved. They still
belong to the tribe and would come back to the tribe if the church
were ever rebuilt.

So it is that the last landmark of this once powerful na-
tion has fallen. There are left very few of those who made the last
move, not more than twelve. Their proud heads are white; the great
tribe is scattered; they come no more to the meeting place to wor-
ship and offer praise of thanksgiving around their great council
fires-

DITCH CLEANING AT JgMjjjZ PUEBLO IN BM MEXICO
By Ten Broeck Williamson, Soil Conservation Service

NOTE: Photographs in this article are by the author and
are used through the courtesy of the Soil Conservation Service.

One of
the best examples
of the community
aspect of Pueblo
Indian life is
found in the an-
nual spring ditch
cleaning. When
the order is is-
sued by the Gov-
enor, every avail-
able male member
of the pueblo must
present himself,
equipped with the
inevitable short-
handled shovel, to
assist in cleaning
and repairing the
community ditch, or ditches, for use during the ensuing year.
Those unable to be present must supply others to work in their
places. Since, as members of the pueblo, all share in the use of
the community ditch, all are required to contribute to its repair
and maintenance.

At Jemez Pueblo, although the period varies with the
weather, cleaning usually begins about February 25- It takes ten
days to clean the four pueblo ditches. The morning that work is
to start, on foot, by horseback and in wagons, the men gather at
the upper end of the ditch. In the early morning light, shovels
on shoulders, they resemble marchers in a straggling army. The
women of the pueblo share in the community spirit of the work by
providing for the men lunches which contain unusual foods and spe-
cial treats.

As the men arrive, they divide into groups of about fif-
teen each. Those having the same surname join the same group.

Thus all men bearing such com-
mon names as Lore t to, Toya,
Sando or Yepa, work as a unit.
Smaller name-groups often are
combined or are augmented by
those who have unique surnames.
The same unit idea is used in
other ways, and is of such
long standing that each worker
knows automatically with which
group he is to work.

When the groups are
ready, the Governor assumes
command. From the head of the
ditch, he steps off fifteen or
twenty paces, marking the dis-
tance in the silt of the ditch
bottom. The number of paces
marked off varies with the a-
mount of silt and brush to be
removed from that particular
section of the ditch. The
groups made up of the Gover-
nor and his officers take this

first area to clean- The second area is assigned to the cacique's

group; the third to the war captain and his men; and the fourth to

the Zoshare or clowns. The next sections are taken by the various

name groups, until

every group has an

allotted section

of ditch to clean.

At the
Governor ' s com-
mand, the units
set to work vigor-
ously. A season's
accumulation of
silt and debris is
shoveled from the
ditch. Brush is
hacked and roots
are dug. The en-
tire line of 200
men is one move-

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ment of bending
bodies, flashing
shovels, flying
silt and brash.
Each unit tries to
be the first to
complete its as-
signed section.

Soon the
fast pace slackens
as group after
group finishes.
Leaning against
shovels or the
bank, they pause
to wipe the per-
spiration from
their faces and
to chide those who
are still working.

The Governor walks along the ditch, inspecting and direct-
ing the work. When all the groups have finished and the ditch is
thoroughly cleaned, he gives the signal and the entire column
marches up the ditch a distance equal to its own length, or equal
to the section of ditch which has been cleaned. Again the Governor
paces and assigns an area to each group; again the furious shovel-
ing; and again the
pause before the
line moves up the
ditch.

At noon
the men leave the
ditch, hungry and
eager to see what
the lunches con-
tain. Still by
name-groups, they
gather in a shel-
tered place a-
round a blanket.
On it is spread
everything from
the lunches: an
abundance of food

in which all share, and which, in an amazingly short time, has dis-
appeared entirely.

And so, shoveling, resting and pausing to eat, the column
moves down the ditch as the men discharge their community obliga-
tions-

A WALRUS HUNT
Sy Sullivan Coan, Teacher, King Island, Alaska

Since coming here to live I had greatly wanted to go on
a walrus hunt with a group of native hunters from King Island. One
day in the spring the chief asked me if I would like to go with him
in his large oomiak- Here was my chance and go I did.

The 43-foot skin boat, or oomiak, was pulled carefully
over the shore ice - to prevent tearing - and was safely launched.
The equipment, including hunting bags, guns, oars and the outboard
motor, was stowed in place.

Everyone dresses warmly for these trips. I could hardly
bend when I was fully dressed. I had on one pair of work pants and
another pair made of heavy mackinaw cloth, mukluks with two pair of
heavy wool socks inside, a wool shirt, a mackinaw and a denim parka
with a stocking cap under the hood. I wore one pair of woolen
gloves under leather mittens and had an extra pair in my pocket.
Still my Eskimo friends were afraid I would be cold.

I had no rifle, but I stuck a knife in my belt, put my
motion picture camera and two rolls of film in my pocket, and board-
ed the boat, in which there were already thirteen Eskimo hunters.

The Eskimos had sighted the herd on an ice floe six miles
from shore toward Siberia. After sailing an hour the motor was cut
off and we pulled up beside an iceberg. One hunter crawled up with
a telescope and located the herd. After a few minutes' discussion
they decided upon a plan of action and we again set sail.

Fifteen minutes later we saw the herd. Another iceberg
was scaled; there was more talk; the outboard motor was shut off
and we took to the oars so we could sneak up on the walrus • We
rowed among ice floes until we were directly behind one on which

was a large herd of walrus. The men climbed out of the boat on to
the ice and the war was on.

All of my shooting was done from the boat with my movie
camera- During the excitement I happened to glance back of me and
saw six walrus headed for my boat. Thinking I would not care for
their company, I made preparation to jump. They dived, however,
and disappeared.

The dead walrus were collected on the ice floes and the
butchering began. The ivory tusks were taken first as they are ex-
tremely valuable for carving. The skin is about an inch thick and
when split, dried and stretched, is used for making oomiaks. The
blubber is from three to four inches thick and is a good food.
Under this is the meat. A walrus weighs from one to two thousand
pounds •

Out of the kill I secured three tongues, the only part
of the animal palatable to whites. If you stretch your imagination
you might think you were eating beef tongue.

We loaded our boats quickly, for we discovered the ice
was closing up and we had to get out while there was open water.
When the ice closes in, boats are often crushed, and when they are
dragged over the ice to open water they are often punctured. This
offered a dangerous hazard so far from home.

When we were about a mile from the Island the wind came
up and the sea became rough. When we reached the shore we had a
difficult time landing. After unloading we pulled the boat upon
the permanent winter ice field. The men would not let me help very
much as I did not have water mukluks nor seal skin pants on and
they were afraid I would get wet.

After the boats were up, the spoils of the hunt were di-
vided. First the meat was proportioned out in small piles, one
for each man- (I gave mine to the chief.) The skin goes to the
man who skinned the walrus . Then the tusks were laid out according
to their size by some of the older men. Each man takes one of the
largest tusks until every one has at least one. This continues
until the pile is too small to allow each man one more. The ones
left are given to the boat owners to repay for gasoline and motor
repairs.

The Eskimos insisted that I take my share of ivory and
the meat. But what could I do with it? So I thanked them warmly
and told them I had been amply paid by the fun and the chance to
make movies.

THE WHITE CLAY DAM AT PINE RIDGE

By Russell E. Getty, Senior Project Manager

Two miles south of the agency at the Pine Ridge Reserva-
tion, South Dakota, the White Clay Dam, started in July, 1937, is
being completed by Indian CCC workers. This dam, whose water will
irrigate 350 acres of crop land, will play an important part in the
lives of the Indians living in the White Clay Creek area.

During the hot summer months of recent drought years,
White Clay Creek has ceased to flow, shallow wells along the creek
have failed, and water hales used by livestock have dried up. Re-
peated emergency requests for water developments to relieve water
shortages have reached the CCC-ID office at the Agency. The White
Clay Dam is designed to solve the problem for the many Pine Ridge
Indians living along the creek: in addition to making subsistence
garden projects possible, it will be used for stock water, for
fishing and for recreation. In addition, it will serve to control
local floods.

Pouring the Last Section of Concrete on the Wing
Walls at the Bottom of the Spillway, June 1S38.

Although the importance of other uses should net be mini-
mized, the dam is justified for irrigation purposes alone, since
through irrigation the project could pay for itself. The irrigable
land is within two miles of the dam and extensive ditching and
fluraing is not required. Maintenance costs will therefore be small
The Indian Irrigation Division contributed funds for the construc-

tion of the dam and, at the present time, is supervising the build-
ing of the irrigation system in cooperation with the CCC-Indian
Division.

Tribal communities, Extension and Education workers, and
CCC-ID men as well have worked together in developing irrigated

That Portion of the Transit Pipe Which Goee
Through the Fill Must Be Tamped Mechanically. A
Portable Electric Tamper and Two Portable
"Borco" Gasoline Tampers Are Here in Use

subsistence gardens throughout the reservation, and have established
the fact that irrigation in this region can be successful, if mem-
bers of Indian communities can be taught proper methods of irriga-
tion. A large portion of the irrigable land on the White Clay is
included within the present boarding school farm. On this part of
the project Indian pupils will learn modern irrigation methods,
thereby equipping them for further teaching of their fellow tribes-
men in their home communities. The remaining land is being devel-
oped for subsistence and resettlement projects for the large Indian
community centered about the Agency.

Engineering Problems Complicate Job

Here are a few facts about the dam which is to make pos-
sible these objectives. It contains 65,000 cubic yards of fill;
has a 3| to 1 front slope, and a 2 to 1 back slope; has a 16-foot
top; is riprapped on the front face with a one-foot thickness of
native rock; has a concrete spillway 100 feet wide and 156 feet
long with 8-foot sidewalls at the top and 18-foot walls at the bot-
tom; is provided with pipes and gates for letting water downstream,

and for controlling irrigation waters covering an area of 110 acres
and impounding 1,500 acre-feet of water.

The construction problems were many and varied and gave
"both the local staff and the district office engineers from Billings
much to think about. Here are some of the problems: In beginning,
the soil which was to be used in the fill was tested by the Recla-
mation Service and pronounced too fine in particle size to be used
safely. That circumstance necessitated a change in the fill de-
sign, and made necessary particularly careful placing. Next, evi-
dence of alkali appeared in the spillway excavation, and it was
feared that concrete could not be placed with safety. Tests by
three different laboratories dispelled our fears.

While the work was in progress, the Bureau of Standards
was running model tests on the spillway, results from which neces-
sitated minor changes in design. Flooded borrow pits caused small
springs to start through unsuspected gravel seams to hamper the
work and make annoying demands upon pumping equipment. Thousands
of yards of excavated material could not be used on the fill be-
cause it was hard shale which disintegrated to a floury material
upon freezing and thawing - as found through tests completed by our
district office. Gravel layers in the reservoir basin made it nec-
essary to extend long core trenches on both ends of the fill. An
early freeze that came to stay stopped the work in the fall at a
difficult stage. When the frost left, boggy springs developed be-
hind the core wall and persistently defied our efforts at compac-
tion. Two minor floods on the creek and an unprecedented rainy
period caused a loss of approximately two weeks effort.

Inexperienced Workers Do Fine Job

While the technical problems increased, we were forced,
in the middle of the yesr , to reduce our staff. Engineers, skilled
laborers, tractor operators, were replaced by enroll ees. This
caused the one faint flicker of discouragement. As the job went on
with enrollee carpenters, steel men, concrete finishers, mechanics,
tractor operators and engineers, the spirit of the crew developed-
No one said, "I can't," and the effect was electrifying. The dif-
ference between these enrollees and skilled laborers or skilled
machine operators is a difference in experience, and the newer men
are rapidly making up that difference.

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THE AMERICAN INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE

By John P. Harrington, Smithsonian Institution

(Kote: This is the first part of Section 3 of an article on the

American Indian sign language. The first section appeared

in the issue of March, 1938, and the second section appeared

in the issues of July and August, 1938.)

What Had Been Done Before Scott's Work ?

Prior to the motion picture filming of the sign language
by Major General Hugh Lenox Scott in 1931-32, the fascinating story
of which I am about to tell, seven major works had been published
on the American Indian sign language.* The first and fourth of
these were without illustrations. The second and third, both by
Mallery, had a few illustrations depicting certain signs. Only the
fifth, sixth and seventh were illustrated by diagrams. Photography,
either in the form of still or motion pictures, was not employed in
the preparation of any of these seven works. Clark's work was writ-
ten by a man thoroughly versed in the subject and also contains
unique historical material. Credit is to be given to Hadley for
initiating the system of diagram depiction. The appearance of * the
books embraced a period from 1822 to 1936 - more than a hundred
years - and during the last quarter of this period, motion pictures
were invented and developed. It remained for General Scott to use
them for recording the signs.

* 1. Long, Stephen Harriman, The Indian Sign Language, Account of an Expedition from Pitts-
burgh to the Bocky Mountains, Performed in the Tears 1819 and '20 by Order of the Honorable J. C. Cal-
houn, Secretary of War; under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long. Philadelphia, Pa., 1822-'23. 2
vols. Vol. 1, pp. 378-394- Presents 104 signs. The outstanding pioneer work on the subject.

2. Mallery, Garrlck. A Collection of Gesture-Signs and Signals of the North American Indians .
with Some Comparisons . (Published as proof-sheets. ) Distributed only to Collaborators. Smithsonian In-
stitution, Bureau of American Ethnology, (Miscellaneous Collections No. l). Washington, D. C, 1880, pp.
1-329. This Is a compilation of many earlier published minor works on the American Indian sign language,
including that of Long, and also embodies the materials in a manuscript by Dodge, and in a manuscript by
Corbusier. It consists of: 1. dictionary of signs, English translation alphabetic order, pp. 17-293,
presenting some 631 signs; 2. dictionary of tribal signs, pp. 294-307; 3. texts in sign language, the
first ever published in a major work, pp. 308-319; signals, pp. 320-329; all presented without diagrams.
ThiB work was printed as proof-sheets with the same idea and at about the same time as Filling's well-known
printed proof-sheets of American Indian Languages on some of the American linguistic families*

3. Mallery, Garrlck, Sign Language Among The North American Indians Compared With That Among
Other Peoples and Deaf Mutes , 1st tvnnnni Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D. C, 1881,
pp. 253-552. Consists largely, as regards signs, of excerpts taken from the "Collection" published as
proofrsheets the year previous, but containing many diagrams of signs and other illustrations, and with
much general material added.

4. Clark, William Phllo, The Indian Sign Language , Philadelphia, Pa., 1885, 443 pp. The dic-
tionary section, having English translation alphabetic order, occupies pp. 21-409, and presents more

I list these publications here in the order of their ap-
pearance, and since, tarring new editions of Tomkins' hook, they
are all that has appeared on the subject up to the present time.
Their listing here furnishes a complete bibliography on the American
Indian sign language-* It is interesting to note that three of
these authors - Long, Mallery, and Clark - were Army men.

" Loose Pants ," Also Called "Classes Man ": A Military

Man Who Was Also An Ethnologist

Hugh Lenox Scott was born at Danville, Kentucky on Sep-
tember 22, 1853. Hugh L° Scott followed an Army career. He grad-
uated from West Point in 187B, and, as he used to tell with a
chuckle, he was fourth from the bottom of his class. At the time
when young Scott graduated, Indian wars were rife in the West, and
his first thought was to go West to see active Service. So the
young man came directly to Washington, D. C, upon his graduation,
saw certain people in authority, and was assigned June 26, 1876, to
the 9th Cavalry which was then doing service in the Montana region.
He obtained a little later a transfer to the 7th Cavalry which had,
before he joined it, participated in the Battle of the Little Big
Horn. He served in the 7th Cavalry during the remainder of the
Sioux campaign and after that in the Nez Perce war. His earliest
service was in Montana and the northern country. Later he was
stationed for many years in Oklahoma, where he gained a deep knowl-
edge of the Kiowa Tribe. During a period of 38 years he received
promotions and assignments to various posts in what ethnologists
call the Western Plains Area - which, as we have seen, is the area
where the American Indian sign language reached its peak of develop-
ment.

than 1,000 signs. Without diagrams. The work contains in its introductory portion and as entries un-
der tribal signs, very valuable early historical data on the peoples of the Western Plains.

5. Hadley, Lewis F. , Indian Sign Talk . (Place of publication not given.) (Copyrighted)
1893, 273 pp. Presents 577 eigne, all of them illustrated by diagrams, also valuable terts in sign lan-
guage, the second ever published. The dictionary entries are reprints of Hadley's cards. The sign lan-
guage text of the 19th Psalm reproduced at the end of this article is taken from Hadley, with emenda-
tions. This book is a pooling of Hadley's material, most of which was also published piecemeal-

6. Seton, Ernest Thompson, Sign Talk , Sarden City, New York, 1918, 237 pp. Presents 1725
signs, by far the largest number given in any of these dictionaries. English translation alphabetic
order; mary of the signs illustrated with diagrams. Based mainly on the Cheyenne form of the American
Indian sisn language, but worked out with thought of use by the Boy Scouts of America and for other
practical use, and including even some non-Indian signs. Prepared in consultation with General Scott
and- with many others.

7. TnmlHrm, Wmiam. Universal Indian HfiB ItSBgaage. S)£ -jiba Plains, jndjans °1 I°I*fr America,;
together with a Dictionary of Synonyms Covering the Basic Words Represented; Also a Codification of Pic-
to^aphic Word Symbols of the Ojibway and Sioux Nations. San Diego. California. 1926. 77 pp. This book
ha» already been published In seven editions, the second edition appearing in 1927 ana containing 9 o pages.
Starting with the second edition the book was officially adopted by the Boy Scouts of America, and by
other organizations. The seventh edition appeared in 1938. In the second edition, f°ll°»i"e «"> in-
duction, a first and main section of the work consists of a sign language dictionary. English translation
alphabetic order, the dictionary occupying right-band pages and diagrams illustrating some of the sign,
occupying left-hand pages. The seventh edition has Trench and German equivalents added-

General Scott became trusted adviser to the Indians every-
where and a most able executive in their behalf. And more than
this, he became the first U. S. Army man who was a real ethnologist,
publishing articles and accumulating an invaluable mass of early
photographs. (These came as a bequest into the possession of the
Bureau of American Ethnology, which he had for years befriended,
only in June, 1938.) He was appointed Chief of Staff, bearing the
title of Major General, on November 17, 1914, but was too near the
retirement age to receive the appointment , which was given to Gener-
al Pershing. September 22, 1917, he was legally retired because of
age and service, but because of the World War, he remained on active
duty until May 12, 1919, when he received his final retirement. He
remained, however, an extremely busy man, holding various positions
until a year before his death, which occurred in the Walter Reed
Hospital in Washington, D. C. , on April 30, 1934, at the age of
eighty-one years. He is buried in the Arlington National Ceme-
tery in Virgin!?, near Washington, P. C.

General Scott was plain and unassuming. He would talk
with anybody. He could hold his own with any ethnologist. As he
used to say, he always put the civil above the military and the
scientific above all. Among other lines of achievement, he became
an expert user of the sign language. Milburn L. Wilson, the pres-
ent Undersecretary of Agriculture, tells me how he met General Scott
in the summer of 1919, then in his 66th year, at the Crow Agency in
Montana. Mr. Wilson spent four days with General Scott at the Crow
and Cheyenne Reservations which are adjacent to each other. Mr.
Wilson was told, on his arrival, that the general was in the dormi-
tory of the Crow Indian School, and there he found him dressed in
a First Sergeant's modest uniform, pouring over a card catalog of
the American Indian sign language.

The next morning the general took Mr. Wilson on a goodly
walk afoot to interview an old Crow woman who was drying wild plums.
The general negotiated with her for the purchase of some of the
plums, dried in old Indian fashion, which were used by the general
as a most excellent purgative - all in the -sign language, with Mr.
Wilson looking on and marveling indeed. The following day, the two
visited the Custer battlefield at Little Big Horn, Montana, twelve
miles away. In the fall of that same year, Mr. Wilson met the
general again at the Yankton Reservation in South Dakota - still
busily engaged in his studies of the sign language.

General Scott was a warm personal friend of Buffalo Bill
and knew nearly all the other notables in the early West. He also
traveled in remote parts of the earth and found resemblances to the
American Indian sign language among signs used by savages in dis-
tant lands- He saw brief service in the Philippine Islands, where

Major General Hugh L. Scott And Colonel William
Frederick Cody (Buffalo Bill)

These Two Friends Of Indians Were Themselves Fast Friends

(From the Scott collection of photographs bequeathed to the Bureau
of American .Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution,
received from General Scott's widow in June 1938.
Courtesy, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D. C.)

several of his fingers were mutilated in an explosion. Strange to
say, the Kiowas, the Indians who knew him best, never associated
him especially with a knowledge of the sign language, but knew him
by two Kiowa names: Zhaakhaae (both syllables high accent), Loose
Pants, referring to his military pants, and less commonly as
Haa n tak ' ia (1st syllable high falling, 2nd syllable low, 3rd syl-
lable low), Glasses Man, because he wore glasses. It will be no-
ticed that neither of these names refers to him as sign user. It
is said, however, that the Cheyennes sometimes called him Sign User

The Ethnologist General Harbors For Years A Secret Plan

Although stationed far from where motion pictures were be-
ing invented and where even the coming of one or two was a rarity
in the early days. General Scott carried for years in the back of
his head what the Germans call "eine fixe Idee." He talked about
it to no one. Ever since Senator Leland Stanford in the 'eighties
of the past century took snapshots in rapid succession of race
horses at his Palo Alto, California, course, ever since in the
•nineties cardboard zootropes came out as a. supplement to Sunday
newspapers which, when mounted at home and whirled by hand, showed
pictures in motion, General Scott had held in deepest secret the
idea of using succession photography for rescuing from ultimate
oblivion the American Indian sign language.

A Bill .Is Passed By Congress For An Unusual Scientific Purpose

General Scott observed that the old Indian people really
talked with their hands, while the "younger generation", even in-
cluding such men as Richard Sanderville, now in his sixties, al-
though having an enormous knowledge of the signs, used them in a
less intuitive and vivid manner. He had seen the oldest Indians
pantomime their thoughts and express much by making a few general
movements. He had seen several of the best sign talkers, as, for
example, as his dear Kiowa friend I-see-you, go down to their
graves without any recording of their fund of sign knowledge.

On the other hand, his live interest in the Boy Scout
and Girl Scout movement made him hope that, if suitable recording
means could be quickly found, the American Indian sign language
could be perpetuated and preserved indefinitely by the youth of
America..

Realizing that proficiency in the sign language was be-
coming obsolete, General Scott strove desperately to find a means
of getting it filmed before the few remaining best users should
pass away.

In 1930 the aging general persuaded influential friends
in Congress to introduce and pass a bill* setting aside $5,000 to
be used for .the film recording of the American Indian sign language
under his supervision. Thus the sign language enjoys the honor of
having been rescued photographically through a special act of Con-
gress and through the instrumentality of one of America's most famous
post-Civil War generals. The dream of earlier years, the urgent
plan of later years, had been realized.

A Sign Council

General Scott chose not the Kiowa Agency in Oklahoma,
where he spent so much time, but the Blackfeet Agency at Browning,
Montana, as the place for the work- By joint agreement between
the Office of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, and the
Office of Motion Pictures (now the Division of Motion Pictures),
Department of Agriculture, the field filming of the sign, language
was arranged to be done under the personal direction of General
Scott in September, 1930. For this purpose, Blackfeet Superintendent,
Forrest R. Stone, summoned various old sign-talking Indians sug-
gested by General Scott to come to Browning and telegrams were
sent out to the Crow, Tongue River, Standing Rock, Fort Belknap,
Fort Berthold, Flathead and Shoshone Agencies, inviting the vari-
ous superintendents and agents as well as certain Indians to at-
tend a sign council at Browning. Mr. Raymond Evans, Chief, Of-
fice of Motion Pictures, and Mr. Eugene Tucker, Cinematographer ,
Office of Motion Pictures, went to Browning from Washington. Mr.
Malcolm McDowell, Secretary of the Board of Indian Commissioners,
handled the details in connection with the. transfer of funds, and
the administrative end of the inter-departmental agreement.

As matters worked out, fourteen of the invited Indians
came to Browning and became members of the unique sign council, of
which General Scott was the fifteenth member. It happened that
none of the invited superintendents and agents came. The fourteen
Indians who attended were: Tom White Horse, Wyoming, Arapaho;
James Eagle, North Dakota, AriKara; Rides Black Horse, Montana,
Assiniboin; Mountain Chief, Montana, Piegan (Blackfeet); Bird

* The language of the authorizing act of Congress, approved April 8, 1930, by the 71et Congress, Second
Session (see U. S. Stat. 46, p. 147) In Its most essential part Is as follows: "That there be hereby
authorized ... to be expended in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, in making a permanent
record of the sign language of the American Indians by whatever means may to him be advisable, and to
meet the expense of recording motion and sound pictures through the instrumentality of Major Qeneral Hugh
L. Scott, retired, and such Indians as may be required to assist him, the theory, history and practice of
the said sign language." The appropriation which had the above mentioned Act as its authority Is the
Second Deficiency Act for the fiscal year 1930, approved July 3, 1930, 71et Congress, Second Session (U. S.
Stat. 46, p. 875).

Rattler, Montana, Blood; Strange Owl, Montana, Cheyenne; Deer Nose,
Montana, Crow; Bitter-root Jim, Montana, Flathead; Drags Wolf, North
Dakota, Grosventre; Assiniboin Boy, Montana, Grosventre; Foolish
Woman, North Dakota, Mandan; Fine Young Man, Canada, Sarcee; Dick
Washakie, Wyoming, Shoshone; Iron Whip, Montana, Sioux.

It will he seen that these fourteen members represented
almost as many spoken languages, making it possible to record tribal
diversities and relative richness of vocabulary of the sign language.
Eichard Sanderville, Blackfeet, served particularly as interpreter.

The Blackfeet Agency at Browning, Montana, was selected
by General Scott as the site .for the council. Mountain Chief, 82-
year-old and blind Piegan (Blackfeet) Chief and expert sign user
was host to the council.

Mountain Chief And Major General. Hugh L. Scott

At Browning, Montana In 1930. Mountain Chief Purchased The

Suit He Is Shown Wearing Especially For The Occasion.

Just opposite the Blackfeet Agency at Browning, Montana,
three large Piegan-style tiois, or native circular lodges were built
by tne Indians in a row from north to south. Thes£ tipis invariably
have the door to the east. The central tipi of the row was used
for the council meetings. To the north of it stood the mess tipi,
while the southermost tipi was for the women's quarters. The mo-
tion picture and still exposute photography was done entirely by
daylight, the eastern side of the upper cloth covering the council
tipi being removed to give good lighting. The motion picture tri-
pod was placed in the door of the tipi. The fourteen members of
the council sat on the ground around the western inside wall in a
semicircle as the camera was turned on the talkers one by one.

As the representatives filed into the council tipi in
full costume, General Scott greeted each of them with signs of
welcome. Each representative was then filmed separately as Gener-
al Scott asked him in sign language his name and tribe. General
Scott talked, in signs, about the large vocabulary of the sign
language and about how signs have been added, as have also newly-
formed words in spoken languages, during recent years to provide
terms for the white man's gadgets - which, he implied, the Indian
might get along better without. The radip, for instance, was, he
told them, just the opposite of the sign language, being nothing
but "loud mouth", as the Indians express it, and though it is
built on a dozen of experiments extended through forty years, and
flung forth by equipment worth millions of dollars, the old-time
Indian prefers the silent sign.

Prom Left To Right: Strange Owl, .Bird Rattler And
Major General Scott, Sitting In The Central Tipi.
(Random enlarged frame from the six reels taken
at sign council tipi)

After council members were all seated around the western
wall. General Scott opened the meeting with signs: "My brothers",
he said, "you have come from the four winds." After this greeting,
the Indians of the various tribes sign-talked in turn. Only four
among the fourteen members gave sign-talk stories. These were Bit-
ter-root Jim, Tom White Horse, Strange Owl and Mountain Chief.
Mountain Chief, one of the best sign-talkers (who is still living
at the present writing), gave his talk outside in front of the tipi,
where he was persuaded by the photographers in order to get the
best possible light. In all, six reels were exposed at the historic
sign council at Browning. None of these, however, included a "sound
track;" that is, they were silent motion pictures.

(To Be Concluded In The Issue Of November)
ONEIDA INDIANS PUSH GARDEN PROGRAM

The Oneida In-
dians of Wisconsin (Tomah
School Jurisdiction) have
determined to make the
most of their reservation's
principal resource - good
agricultural soil. They
are planning to increase
their dairy holdings and
to raise vegetables as
cash crops.

The number of
horses on the reservation
is small; much of the plowing and harrowing, consequently, has
been done by using an old cut-down automobile pictured above.

RECENT CHANGES OF ASSIGNMENT

Mr. Carl Beck, formerly stockman at the Navajo Agency,
has entered on duty as superintendent of the Western Shoshone A-
gency, Nevada, in place of Mr. Emmett McNeilly, who has gone to
Rocky Boy's Agency, Montana. Mr. Charles H. Berry, superintendent
at the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, Oklahoma, is being transferred
to the superintendency of the New York Agency at Salamanca, New
York, in place of Mr. William K. Harrison, special agent in charge.
Mr . Guy Hobgood, superintendent of the Truzton Canon Agency at
Valentine, Arizona, will take the superintendency of the Cheyenne
and Arapaho Agency.

CECIL DICK . YOUNG CHEROKEE PAINTER
By Maud Parker

Cherokee Men On Their Way To The Council Of Their Trihe.
(Mural at the Sequoyah Indian School, Tahlequah, Oklahoma)

Cecil Dick, full-blood Cherokee, was born September 16,
1915, near Bose, Oklahoma. He was orphaned as a child, and his
schooling has consequently been somewhat varied. He has been a
pupil at the Seneca Indian School, at Wyandotte, Oklahoma, at the
Chilocco Indian School and at the Sequoyah Indian School.

Wishing to get special training in art work, he went to
the Santa Pe Indian School for a year; then he returned to Sequoyah
to finish his high school course in 1936.

Cecil Dick has painted morals at Sequoyah and at Bagley
High School in Oklahoma; and has had his pictures exhibited in
Tulsa, Albuquerque, Chicago, San Francisco , Washington and New Tork.

THS FLAMBEAU FISH HATCHERY

(This article is taken from an article by Ben C Gauthier
in the "Flambeau Blue Book" , which, is issued by the Flambeau Tax-
payers 1 Association, and from material furnished by the Wisconsin
Conservation Commission. )

The Lac du Flambeau
Indians of the Great Lakes
Agency, Wisconsin are deeply
interested in maintaining
their reservation as a fine
fishing area. Their fish
hatchery, built by CCC-ID,
and operated for the tribe by
the Wisconsin Conservation De-
partment, is making this pos-
sible.

The hatchery con-
sists of a group of three
buildings, located on tribal
land at the south end of Po-
kegama Lake • In the hatchery
building itself, the young
muskellunge and wall-eyed
pike fry are hatched; in the
net house, built along lines
approved by the Conservation
Commission, the 45 nets are
stored; and in the boathouse
the three motorboats, the
three other boats and their
equipment sxe housed.

George W. Brown, President of the

Tribal Council, Lac du Flambeau

Band of Lake Superior Chippewa-

(Wisconsin Conservation Department

Photograph)

Twelve to twenty men are employed at the plant, according
to the seasonal demand. The workers start gathering the spawn in
the smaller outlying lakes - where the water is warmer - in the
early spring, and work in toward the Flambeau chain of lakes. The
eggs are hatched in glass jars, about six to twenty- four days being
required. The fry are planted as soon as they axe hatched, since
it is necessary to get them into their natural habitat and on their
natural diet as soon as possible. The muskellunge spawn first -
beginning before the ice goes out - and the pike spawning season
follows soon after.

The fry axe distributed to all the lakes in the reserva-
tion which are suitable for the propagation of fish. A pro-rata
system based on the acreage of the lakes is used in allotting the
fry.

An allied project at Lac du Flambeau is the proposed con-
struction of a bass rearing pond, whose object would be to give
protection to bass fingerlings until they reach a size which will
give them a more likely chance of survival - that is, from three to
six inches in length.

George W. Brown, president of the tribal council, says
of these projects: "Our lakes have always been great fishing wa-
ters. When only the Indians lived here we did not need to think
about hatcheries • Now white people in large numbers come here to
fish. We want them always to have good luck snd to make good
catches in our waters, so we are hatching and planting fish, par-
ticularly pike and muskellunge. If the fishermen who come here
make good catches and land big ones, they will want to come again.
They will rent the cabins we have built and they will tell their
friends about them. If many of them come, we can build more cabins

Interior, Fish Hatchery, Lac du Flambeau. Capacity - 140 Jars.
Jars in This Photograph Are Filled With Pike Eggs Being Hatched.
^Wisconsin Conservation Department Photograph)

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THREE THOUSAND FEET DOWN

By Erik W. Allstroin, Camp Superintendent, CCC-ID
Phoenix, Arizona

Some peo-
ples are by nature
peaceful. Whsn they
are few in number
they dare not be
otherwise. The Hav-
asupai Indians, now
about two hundred in
number, may belong
to both groups.

Once the
Apaches were warlike
and aggressive. Lat-
er came the Span-
iards, every bit as
warlike and much
more aggressive. Up
on the high plateau
of northern Arizona
these two races found a simple agricultural people busy working out
a meager existence in a semi-arid region. Some of these folk were
killed in raids and all were robbed of such wealth aft they had.
Northward they fled until they came to the sheer wall of the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado River about sixty miles west of El Tovar,
where today tourists gather to look into the mightiest of earth's
chasms. A precipitous slope let them down into a side canyon, at
the bottom of which they discovered a tiny but fertile meadowland.
There they have lived ever since.

The Havasupai village is some three thousand feet below
the level of the Arizona Plateau, and fifteen hundred feet above
the Colorado River about fourteen miles away. Through the settle-
ment sparkles the clear stream of Cataract Creek, born from springs
hidden along some hundred yards of the narrow canyon floor a quar-
ter mile away. Below the settlement are four waterfalls within
about two miles, the last one with a sheer drop of two hundred
eighty feet. So the Havasupais have a home valley perhaps two
miles long and two or three hundred yards wide.

Looking Down Into the Supai Valley

Of land
the Havasupai tribe
has 512 acres, a
part of which is
now being irrigated
The work of build-
ing flumes and dig-
ging irrigation
ditches is being
done by the men of
the tribe working
as CCC-ID enroll-
ees. Each of the
forty families has
its small patches
of ground, care-
fully terraced to
conserve the water
that comes either
as rain or as
brought by simple
little ditches.

Typical Supai Scene, Showing Method Of
Terracing Land for Farming. The Dark
Cliff is 1,000 Feet High and the Gray
One Beyond Rises Another 2,000 Feet.

The land cannot produce enough for even the few needs of the vil-
lagers; some of the younger men, however, have been able to get
work in the Grand Canyon National Park, and support themselves away
from the home canyon.

To reach Havasupai one may go from the Grand Canyon or
from Seligman, by car to the canyon rim. From Grand Canyon "Hill-
top 11 there is a 14-mile horse trail to Supai, while from the Selig-
man or Hualapai "Hilltop" the trail, a CCC-ID project, is only
eight miles long.

Except for the small quantity of home-grown food, every-
thing used at Supai must be taken down by pack-train. Cement for
masonry construction, pipe for irrigation work, every board of lum-
ber, household utensils, canned goods, together with all clothing,
must be packed in on animals. Life is exacting in many ways, yet
the privilege of living in the midst of such magnificant surround-
ings is, perhaps, worth the loss of some of the conveniences which
we think of as part of our modern way of life.

NOTE* rfcOM WEEKLY PR0QBE33 fttPOfcT* OF
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION COS *S — INDIAN DIVISION

Fire Prevention Work At Yakima
(W ashington ) Due to the unusually
warm weather which has "been preva-
lent for the past several weeks, the
fire hazard for Signal Peak and the
surrounding vicinity has been very
great . Because of the increased
fire hazard, we are holding the en-
tire crew on fire duty. Several new
lookouts were installed on the vari-
ous lookout stations to he used for
the remainder of the fire season .

Work on the Signal Peak-White
Creek Truck Trail is progressing
very rapidly and the crews are doing
very good work.

Excellent use is being made of
the new kittyball field and tennis
court. Very enthusiastic players
turn out for both sports each evening,
providing very enjoyable and enter-
taining pastime for both the players
and spectators alike. Keith Watson .

Truck Trail Construction At Fort
Apache ( Arizona ) Good progress was
made on the Rock Creek Horse Trail,
considering the hillside work and the
rocky formation. A little time was
lost due to the heavy rainstorms.
Loy Varnell .

Bank Protection Work At Mission
( California ) Bank protection work
was started in Yapitcha Creek. This
was made necessary because of the
damage caused by the floods of last
season. A rock and wire revetment
wall has been started and the excava-
tion work for same is well along.

This wall, when completed, will
protect the adjacent lands and keep
the stream within its channel.

Another crew has started con-
struction on a horse trail in the
Potrero district, starting at a
point at the southwest corner of
the Mendenhall Ranch, running south-
erly about one and one-half miles
to a spring and thence on to the
southern boundary where the fence
crosses the San Luis Rey River.

Dam Construction At Fort Peck
( Montana ) The small dam below
springs 228 and 229 was started this
week. Nine hundred s.y. of sod were
removed and borrow pits were opened.
A small cut-off trench was made and
forty-five cubic yards of dirt were
moved into the fill.

The materials used on spring
228 to complete it was: one spring
can, 20 feet of perforated pipe and
a trench 90 feet long was made and
riprapped. A five wire fence was
built around this spring to keep
the stock out. The spring' flows
an average of five gallons per min-
ute. Grant 0. Smith , Sub-Foreman .

Ribes Eradication At Great
Lakes ( Wisconsin ) The majority of
the enrollees at this unit are at
the present time engaged in Ribes
eradication. The men, as a whole,
are organized along prescribed
lines, working five men in line,
followed by an Assistant Leader and
an Assistant Checker.

Prom a total of seven species
of Ribes, we have found five dis-
tinct species on this reservation.
The general purpose of this program
is gradually being understood by
our boys. The ultimate result will
greatly enhance the value of the
pine reproduction. The value of the
pine as a scenic asset is also ap-
preciated.

Recreational activities have
also captured the interest of our
boys . Recently the entire group
took a trip to a nearby park where
the afternoon was pleasantly spent .
Joe Vandeventer , Leader , CCC-ID .

Fire Presuppression At Flat -
head ( Montana ) The fire danger dur-
ing the past few weeks Has remained
at Class 5, with humidity low and
temperature ranging from 90 to 100
degrees . Nearly all of the planned
fire presuppression force was placed
on duty recently.

In spite of the hazardous condi-
tions, however, we have had no fires
within the timbered area as yet and
only one fire occurred in the open.
This fire started in a hayfield and
was caused by the backfire from a
passing automobile. Visibility has
been rather poor recently because
of a 200-acre fire on the Cabinet
National Forest, which lies to the
west of this reservation. William
Trosper .

Horse Trail Construction At
Wind River ( Wyoming ) The crew that
was working on the Circle Ridge
Trail has been moved to a new loca-
tion on Mosquito Park, where the
crew will work on the horse trails.
All of the moving work was done by
the trucks on duty here at the Agency

A great deal of work has been
done on the mountain trails. This
work has consisted of: sloping the
banks, filling up ruts, cleaning all
culverts and blasting all heavy rock
on the right-of-way.

Native red stone, which is found
in this vicinity, is being used to
build flagstone walks on the CCC-ID
homes here at the Agency. J. Fox .

Boundary Surveying At Tonawanda
( New York ) Everything has been fine
to the finish and we completed our
work with the surveyors. We have
surveyed fourteen miles of line and
have set fifty-seven monuments. Of
course, all the lines were retraced,
preliminary to setting the monuments.

The boys have done their work
well and have cooperated with the
surveyors from start to finish. One
of the engineers later told me that
he liked the boys so well and said:
"I wish we could take them along to
the next job."

We had good cooperation in this
piece of work and it created a feel-
ing that made parting kind of hard
at the completion of the project.

Activities At Chin Lee , Navajo
( Arizona) Since a fresh water
stream flows near this camp, the
boys have been fishing after working
hours • Several of the boys have
been telling "tall tales" about the
fish they have caught; however, the
largest caught this week was about
ten inches long. The fish in this
particular stream are not very large.
Stanley R . Thomas , Sr . , Sub-Foreman .

Recreational Program At Cheyenne
and Arapaho (Oklahoma) The enrollee

program in recreational work is prov-
ing to be a great success- Much en-
tertainment and activity has been
enjoyed through baseball and soft-
ball games and at the present time
we are holding a school in water
safety. Levi Beaver .

Grasshopper Eradication At Hose-
bud ( South Dakota ) Eecently we put
out 90 sacks of poison bait on some
500 acres of farmland. The corn
crop was looking good and doing fine
but the grasshoppers started in on
the outside edges of these fields,
therefore we spread bait around the
edges and perhaps four or five rows
along the edges in the corn, too.
The effect of the poison has been
very encouraging in most places .
The grasshoppers seem to fall off
the cornstalks wherever the bait
has been spread. We find about
twelve grasshoppers to the square
foot. This operation has to be re-
peated every three or four days •
The 500 acres mentioned above has
had to have two treatments in a
single week.

A little time was lost in exper-
imenting as to the best method of
spreading the bait and also because
we were unable to procure enough
poison to take care of our needs.
But now we can get all the bait we
need and we hope to make better
progress from how on.

Most of our former CCC boys are
now engaged in outside work during
the harvesting and threshing season.
This office has made every effort
possible to help these boys get such
outside work, and so far, with good
success. William Barnett , Assistant
Foreman.

Recreational Activities At Car -
son ( Nevada ) Recently we were
favored with a visit from Mr. S. S.
Gurneau, who took charge of the
recreational end of the activities
at camp. He held several campfire
meetings in which talks were given
and jokes were told. Mr. Gurneau
also started a soft ball tournament
and a horseshoe tournament here. We
will miss his services when he is
called back to the Stewart Indian
School, where he is employed as As-
sistant Adviser. Frank M. Parcher .

Progress At Northern Idaho
( Idaho ) We are rapidly completing
some of our projects. The weather
has been warm in the valley, but it
is still cool up on the mountains.
There have been several thunder storms
accompanied by heavy rains so that
the ground is fairly well soaked.
This has delayed the fire season.
Our baseball teams have been giving
a very good account of themselves.
Harold R . Wing .

Dusting Control At Crow Creek
( South Dakota ) The dusting control
crew is very interested in its work,
especially after dead crickets and
grasshoppers have been seen where
the dusting mixture has been used.

The crickets and grasshoppers
are not under control as yet and it
is doubtful as to whether they will
be for some time to come, but the
poison is having a great effect and
many of the crickets are being de-
stroyed.

We are trying to save a few of
the fields and grasslands and hope
to be successful. Gilbert Crezy
B ull , Leader .

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

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